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Category: Business

I believe that every business has its own specifics, what means that there usually isn’t an off-the shelf software that takes care of everything you need and is affordable at the same time. I described the process that I use in Mosaic Media in my last post about managing small business finances. I do it in Podio, what I really like, because it’s very flexible and lets me set things up as I need them. I promised to share the pack that I use with you and I’m happy to say, that Podio liked it and added it to the app market. So feel free to try it out and let me know how it helped you – https://podio.com/market/packs/58085.

I bet that you use Excel or Google spreadsheets to track your projects, payments and also purchase orders for your contractors. I agree that it’s pretty simple and the best way to start. It gives you the basic insight of how you are doing. Apart from that, you should be able to see which payments are due and how much did you spend on outsourcing. This will work well until you team starts growing or you need detailed information about the projects. What if you have too much work and need to drop some clients? You should keep the most profitable ones. I’m going to tell you how to do it in Podio and why do I prefer it. Continue reading Manage your small business finance with Podio

The Business Model Canvas, is a strategic management and entrepreneurial tool. It allows you to describe, design, challenge, invent, and pivot your business model. It’s pretty simple to create it. Just find the PDF or PSD, print it, put on the wall and use sticker notes. And you’re done. But what would you do when you need to work on it with the team that is remote? Printing it obviously wouldn’t work, because you don’t want to do conference calls and point the camera to your wall. I’ve got a solution for it.

You are looking forward to spending this day at work, because your task list is pretty empty and no issues are waiting for you. So you make plans to leave earlier and take your girlfriend to a fancy dinner or iron all the shirts for your husband. But what happens when you open the mailbox when you come to the office? A lot of mails, even more requests and what is the worst, each of them totally different. You heart beat doubles and you started feeling anxious. You’ve been for that for quite a long time so you don’t want to change the plans for the evening. But you think that you haven’t got another chance. You are wrong, you have. Sounds unbelievable? Read further.

Project management is almost like sex or social media marketing. Everyone thinks that they know how to do it right and that they are good at it. Well, are you that sure? I’ve started writing an e-book, which really helps you understand project management and get better in it. I’ll also tell you how use it also outside the office to do your day to day tasks more effective. When we want to get better in something, we need to know a bit about what it is, right? This part of my e-book is already written, so I’ve decided to share it with you. Keep reading… Continue reading How to understand project management in 5 minutes?

Let’s image a pretty common situation. You’ve just found a client who needs you to do a small job. You are pretty happy, because you know that it can be ready on a week or two and you are dazzled with the vision of quick money. So you talk to the client on the phone and send them an email with a short description of the project. It’s a small one and you don’t want to waste a whole day on writing the specification, preparing wireframes and going through the approval process with the client. But…

Freelancers are pretty good at selling themselves and making them look better than they are. The competition is pretty high, so they need to stand out for a chance to get a good project. The problem is, that they focus more on getting the job than on working, what hurts your project and wastes your time and money. There are few easy steps which let you test freelancers trying to get your job. They help you separate the wheat from the chaff. Are you ready?

I’ve worked with remote teams for a few years. Some of the freelancers were great, some were OK and of course, some of them helped me get some grey hair. I’ve discovered a process which help you evaluate the freelancer pretty fast. You need to focus on a few significant signs and behavior patterns which tell you a lot about anyone. But before I tell you a bit more about it, let’s step back and start with helping you to determine what do you need from your freelancers and how to search for them.

Do you prefer having a full control over your team, being able to see what they are doing and come talking to them anytime? Or do you focus on results and the most important is to have the project done as specified, within the budget and on time? Many of us think that full control is the right and only way to a successful project. I tell you one secret, it’s not. How does this answer the question about outsourcing? Let me explain. Continue reading Outsourcing yes or no?